STUDY OF ION-BEAM-ASSISTED DEPOSITION OF AI AIN MULTILAYERS BY COMPARISON OF COMPUTER-SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENT/

Nanoscale Al/AlN multilayers have been fabricated by ion beam assisted deposition at various nitrogen ion energies, fluxes and ion-to-atom a rrival rate ratios. Computer simulations are performed to describe the deposition process and for comparison with the experimental results. At lower ion energies, fluxes and ion-to-atom ratios, the calculated r esults are in good agreement with the experimental data. Under this co ndition film formation is dominated by ballistic processes. For higher ion energies, fluxes and ion-to-atom ratios, comparison of the simula tions with experiments reveals that, in addition to ballistic processe s, diffusional and chemical processes may play a significant role in f ilm formation.